Friday, April 13, 2007
Opportunities abound
Until yesterday, I've been beat up by a cold. No cycling for me. My leg muscles are going to wither away soon.
One of our local free weekly newspapers comes out with it's Bike Edition this week. They kicked it off with a "Town Hall" meeting to talk Bike Plan. I wasn't there, but BlogTO was. I like that Tanya suggested putting signs up that say cyclists can use a full lane. Those signs need to be on many of the narrow arterials around the city.
Which way is faster? Now Magazine looks into that too. The bike wins in this 9 km competition. It starts in a dense urban part of the city, and finishes in a dense suburban part. Anyone else think the TTC guy would have done way better if he took the University-Spadina line? The Yonge line is overcrowded, not the University side.
I did my own bike v. car competition in the suburbs last year. It was much less dramatic, and didn't end with the cyclist eating ice cream. The race was also skewed because the motorist assumed he would kick my ass, so he gave me a head start.
If you have a lazy Friday afternoon, you'll want to watch this video starring the president of Trek Bicycle. Here's the non-executive summary (not all of us have time to hear a president talk for 20 minutes!):
- The bike industry was propelled in recent decades by the mountain bike trend and Lance Armstrong.
- Very few people in most US and Canadian cities ride bikes.
- If people rode bikes, it would solve many of the western world's major problems, such as obesity, traffic congestion, and pollution.
- Government will start to recognize how good bikes are and bike companies will soon sell many bikes.
- BUT to make this happen, the bike companies need to support bicycle advocacy groups, so people see real bicycle infrastructure. He gives examples of where bike infrastructure made a real difference in bicycling rates (U.K. and Louisville, Kentucky stand out).
Found on Spinopsys
One of our local free weekly newspapers comes out with it's Bike Edition this week. They kicked it off with a "Town Hall" meeting to talk Bike Plan. I wasn't there, but BlogTO was. I like that Tanya suggested putting signs up that say cyclists can use a full lane. Those signs need to be on many of the narrow arterials around the city.
Which way is faster? Now Magazine looks into that too. The bike wins in this 9 km competition. It starts in a dense urban part of the city, and finishes in a dense suburban part. Anyone else think the TTC guy would have done way better if he took the University-Spadina line? The Yonge line is overcrowded, not the University side.
I did my own bike v. car competition in the suburbs last year. It was much less dramatic, and didn't end with the cyclist eating ice cream. The race was also skewed because the motorist assumed he would kick my ass, so he gave me a head start.
If you have a lazy Friday afternoon, you'll want to watch this video starring the president of Trek Bicycle. Here's the non-executive summary (not all of us have time to hear a president talk for 20 minutes!):
- The bike industry was propelled in recent decades by the mountain bike trend and Lance Armstrong.
- Very few people in most US and Canadian cities ride bikes.
- If people rode bikes, it would solve many of the western world's major problems, such as obesity, traffic congestion, and pollution.
- Government will start to recognize how good bikes are and bike companies will soon sell many bikes.
- BUT to make this happen, the bike companies need to support bicycle advocacy groups, so people see real bicycle infrastructure. He gives examples of where bike infrastructure made a real difference in bicycling rates (U.K. and Louisville, Kentucky stand out).
Found on Spinopsys
Labels: infrastructure, public transit
Darren J 4/13/2007 08:30:00 a.m.
4 Comments:
Okay, maybe it's Friday and I can't see, but it's really annoying that the bike vs. ttc blurb doesn't have a date on it anywhere. It's just "Now." Bleccchhh...
OK, I would really like for my 9 year old child to learn to ride a bicycle without a training wheel. For various reasons (age, health, not knowing how myselfetc.), I can't do the teaching. Can't find any biking lessons for kids. Markham Kids Can-Bike program only teaches saferty rules to children that already know how to bike, and Can Bike Learn to Ride is for age 14+. So what can one do?
that Trek guy's talk was great. A little bit capitalistic but hey, if it gets more bike lanes built, so be it! : )
Concerned Mom: I see what you mean about the Can Bike classes. They appear to specifically avoid teaching kids the simple act of riding a bike. I guess they had to direct their resources to make the best impact.
Do you have a friend who can help teach your child to ride?
Do you have a friend who can help teach your child to ride?